Vienna Attractions - A City Tour

Vienna Attractions - Introduction

Vienna or Wien, as is said by the locals,
is a beautiful city. With this article I will give you a sample of Vienna attractions. The
legacy of the Hapsburg Dynasty is all over the many Vienna attractions; the buildings, the
statues and just the general feel of the city.
But there are other aspects to this majestic city; Strauss, Mozart, Mr
Psychoanalysis Dr Sigmund Freud, fantastic cakes, strong coffee and friendly
people. However, before we can sample these, let us take a ride around the city
of culture, tradition and vitality.

I will give
you a city tour of the Vienna
attractions that will start at the corner of the Stubenring and Franz Josef
Kai. The city tour of Vienna
attractions will follow the ring road around the city, it often changes names
such as Burgring and Opernring. You can walk my city tour or take a circle
tram. So enjoy a city tour of Vienna
attractions…

Urania Building

Vienna Attractions – Stubenring

Urania

The
first of our Vienna
attractions originally designed as a Planetarium, but city lights became too
bright for good viewing

Now
houses an art house cinema

Look
for Franz Joseph’s name at top

Old PoliceBuilding

Need
to look at three things; the man on the horse, the faces on the first level and
the double-headed eagles on top and on the columns

The
man on the horse is Field Marshal Radetzky, a general who fought to rid Austria
of Napoleon and his army; Strauss wrote a march in honour of him

The
faces represent the many faces of Franz Joseph, the nose is the same in each one;
different hats (commander’s hat, night cap...) show his different roles

Dr
Karl Luegar, important Mayor of Vienna, and one of the important Vienna attractions, he pioneered
workers’ rights

Golden statue of Johann Strauss II in Stadtpark

Stadtpark with Kursalon in the background

Kursalon at the end of Stadtpark, where social waltzing still happens

Vienna Attractions – Parkring

Stadtpark

Opened in 1862 as the first public park created by the
government

One of the more relaxing Vienna attractions, it’s a great place to
stroll, sit, have a picnic or watch the world go by on a beautiful afternoon

Europeans in apartments, no backyards, park becomes a
communal garden for walking dogs, family outings, football and frisbee matches,
sunbaking, etc

Many memorials in the Park

Gold statue in homage to Johann Strauss II who wrote the
Danube Waltz

His father, Johann Strauss I didn’t want his son to become a
musician like him as there was no money or not many prospects

Luckily, young Johann ignored his father’s advice and went on
to write many pieces, including 4000 waltzes

Kursalon

Opened in 1867 for waltzing, concerts and balls and is one
of the more quaint Vienna
attractions

On Saturday afternoons, can go for coffee or a drink and
practise the rather difficult Vienna Waltz with complex steps and a change of
direction

Waltzing was considered a fad, a phase of the time like
grunge, techno or rap, but soon became very popular and endures today

Russian Monument

Vienna Attractions – Schubertring

Statue of Schwarzenberg

Prince Schwarzenberg also commanded armies against Napoleon
in Leipzig in
1813

Russian Monument

One of the more curious Vienna
attractions, as Germany was
occupied by the allies after the end WWII, Vienna was as well.

Erected by the Russians when they left Austria after
the occupation following WWII

Fountain in front said to hide an inscription by the
Russians that read “We will return” maybe this is where Arnie got his
inspiration for the Terminator catch phrase!

Vienna Attractions – Opernring

Kärntnerstrasse

The fantastic pedestrian area for shopping, eating and
people watching

Hotel Sacher located just off it for decadent Sacher Torte

Also find artists, buskers and the Church
of Saint Stephen, which is one of the
most striking of the Vienna
attractions, to climb the towers for views of the city

Staatoper

Built in 1861, but destroyed in WWII and rebuilt in 1948

First building on the Burgring and epicentre of Viennese
culture

First performance in here was Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”

Top hat and tails and gowns are worn, the closer to the
front your seats are the more you dress up

Once reserved seats with a white handkerchief tied to the
rail

To stop the audience coughs and sneezes during the music,
they hand out throat lozenges, 800kg per year!

Mozart statue the Burggarten

Hofburg Palace

Spannish Riding School

Vienna Attractions – Burgring East

Statue of Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), great German writer
and poet and preserved the German language, spent time in Vienna writing

Wrote Faust (sold his soul to the Devil for a woman), “The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and helped his friend Schiller with “Wilhelm Tell”
(William Tell)

Statue of Schiller

Friedrich von Schiller wrote “Die Räuber” and also “Wilhelm
Tell”

Met Goethe in Weimar
and formed a lasting friendship as well as writing partnership to reignite and
redefine the German language

Burggarten

Goethe has a great view of one of the city’s prettiest
gardens.

Forms the front of the HofburgPalace

A statue of a young Mozart stands in a flower bed the shape
of a treble clef

Hofburg Palace

The winter home of the Habsburgs and housing many museums,
which makes this district thick with Vienna
attractions.

Now home to the Vienna Boys Choir and the SpanishRidingSchool

Can take a tour of the private chambers of the former Kings
and Queens of the Hapsburgs

Statue of Marie Therese

Natural History Museum

Vienna Attractions – Burgring West

Museum of Fine Arts

Has a statue of a woman on top, quite appropriate

Mirror to the Natural History Museum, twin pavilions

Hapsburgs channelled many works here including many by
Reubens as he was under contract to the family

Statue of Maria-Therese

In the centre of the pavilions, the big fat green lady!

The beloved mother of Austria and Habsburg Queen
1740-1780

First woman ruler, her father Charles VI had no male heir so
he drew up the “Pragmatic Rule” enabling her to take the throne, she now holds
this document in her hand

She was one of the most enlightened to rule the Empire and
in her spare time she had 16 children, making this one of the most famous
statues of all of our Vienna
attractions.

Museum of Natural History

Mirror to the FineArtsMuseum,
but a statue of a man on top...make your own jokes about nature, apes and
dragging knuckles!!!

Has a good zoological collection as well as dinosaur
skeletons and meteorite fragments

Volks Garten

Austrian House of Parliament

Vienna Attractions – Dr. Karl Renner Ring

Volksgarten

The park of the people at the back of HofburgPalace

Beautiful rose gardens opened to the public in 1823

Strauss would hold open air recitals here

Three Heads - Reumann, Adler &
Hanusch

Founders of the Republic
of Austria after WWI

Wrote the Constitution for the democracy

Houses of Parliament

Greek façade with Corinthian columns, this makes the
building classical in style and one of the Vienna attractions that is quite different to
the rest.

6m high statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom holding Nike in
right hand for victory; why is wisdom outside and not in the building?

On the left ramp the figures are Greeks (democracy) and the
right ramp has the Romans (parliament and ruling), one is said to be Julius
Caesar

Bust of Karl Renner

Silver bust of the man who was first President of the new
Republic after WWII

Vienna Rathaus (Town Hall)

Burg Theatre

Inside the Burg Theatre

Vienna Attractions – Dr. Karl Lueger Ring

Rathaus

Neo-Gothic building, the same architect who designed the
Köln Cathedral

There was a design competition for the building, but it was
already decided that his entry would be the final design

The seat of Vienna,
surrounded by statues of Austrian greats including the Hapsburgs and the
Rathaus Man on top

Burgtheater

Originally built during the reign of Maria-Therese, but the
acoustics were terrible so it was torn down and rebuilt

Destroyed again in WWII, so again rebuilt perfectly this
time

One of four state theatres in the city, the most important
one and one of the Vienna
attractions that centres around music.

Universität Wien

University of Vienna founded in 1883 by Franz Joseph I

Known as the Oxford of Austria

Alma mater of Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein

Assassination Site

Across from the University is the site where an
assassination attempt was made on the life of Franz Joseph

Votiv Kircher (church)

Vienna Attractions – Scottenring

Votiv Kircher

Built by Maximillian, the brother of Franz Joseph to
commemorate his survival of the assassination attempt

The twin spires represent brotherhood

Ironic as not long after the church was completed,
Maximillian was assassinated.

It is one of the least seen of the Vienna attractions.

Stock Exchange

Orange building, the meeting place of west and east Europe

During Communism, was the eastern-most stock exchange in Europe

The Danube Canal

One of the many Jewish memorials to the Holocaust in Vienna

Vienna Attractions – Franz Josef Kai

Danube Canal

The DonauRiver

A canal built to stop the flooding of the mighty Danube

The DanubeRiver flows west to east from its source in the Alps,
across seven countries to the Black Sea in Bulgaria

Check the colour; if blue then in love, if brown...try
again!

Strauss wrote a waltz for the river it is so inspiring

Morzin Platz

Old Jewish Quarter of Vienna

220,000 Jews lived here, but after WWII only 100,000 were
left; they were boarded in and left to starve

The small memorial marks the area with “Niemals Vergessen”
inscription, it is one of the most unassuming of the Vienna attractions.

Ruprecht Kirche

Brown building with green ivy

The oldest church in Vienna
from 740, and largest bell

My name is Robee Kann, for six years I was a tour guide
throughout Europe. I loved my job and I would
love to hear from you. You are most welcome to message me to say hello or
request a hub about a European subject. Please look at my other hubs and leave
a comment for me.